Personal Financial Planning Tools & Concepts is a one-of-a-kind reference work, with charts, graphs and worksheets to help you plan your financial future. Featuring the most relevant tools from Personal Financial Planning Research Center, this book is designed to provide users with independent financial planning methods. It gives you valuable insight into the decisions you will be faced with when developing a financial plan for yourself. The tools are illustrated through examples of American families.
Mint
Mint is a great free tool that helps you budget your money mainly by allowing you to connect your bank accounts to the budgeting software, which then enables Mint to keep track of your spending on your accounts and any associated cards.
Mint has a nice feature that allows you to “set” your budget, while it tracks all of your expenses for you. On top of that, the tool will automatically separate your expenses into categories it assumes to be the correct fit for. If something shows up in the wrong category, no problem, you are able to go in and make the correction to the category placement. What’s even better is that Mint continually learns to categorize better according to the corrections you make to it.
One of the inherent downsides to using Mint as a financial tool for free is that you will be shown ads related to credit cards and loans while you use their budgeting tool. But with that being said, the budgeting software is 100 percent free, and it doesn’t get much better than free.
Every Dollar
The overall premise of Every Dollar is that every dollar you earn and save should have a job. There is a paid version where you are able to link your bank accounts, however, the free version works great for people who enjoy inputting their purchases and tracking their expenses the good old manual way.
It’s quite simple to use actually: You first create and set up your budget, then each time you spend your money, you’re responsible for inputting the expense amount to keep track of everything.
Personally, I really like this philosophy a lot because you become more aware of how you are spending your money by constantly having to record it every time you make a purchase. It keeps you accountable and on top of your money managing habits.
Discover Bank
Discover Bank is another great savings alternative when it comes to online banking that also has no transfer fees, monthly maintenance fees, or minimum balance fees. Unlike Ally Bank, however, Discover Bank does not have the ability to create sub-savings categories within its savings accounts.
Instead, you are able to set up and open as many savings accounts as you need or want according to your financial goals. There is no right or wrong solution when it comes to that, it all boils down to personal preference.
Venmo
Venmo is a great tool for just about anyone who is looking for a way to transfer money to their friends, colleagues and family members quickly.
With Venmo, you first connect your checking account to the application which then enables you to be able to pay your friends directly through the application for everyday things whether it’s lunch you owe them, drinks, you name it. Venmo remains free-to-use as long as you keep your bank account connected. If you decide to link your debit or credit card(s) instead, then there is a service fee that’s attached to the money transfer.
In recent news, Visa has actually set out to acquire Plaid, the company that powers Venmo, for a valuation of $5.6Billion. It will certainly be interesting to see where things go with the platform over the next few years.
Savology
Savology is a free-to-use digital financial planning platform where you can get an accurate and personalized financial plan in just a few minutes.
After going through the financial profile survey, you’ll be able to create your free account which gives you access to a complete financial plan, financial wellness score (report card) on your current financial health, recommended next steps know as action items and interactive financial literacy tools known as planning modules.
Savology also connects you to industry-leading financial providers and institutions that you would have otherwise spent time and money searching for, as a way to help you reach your financial goals such as increasing your savings rate, building an emergency fund, getting the proper amount of life insurance, and saving for your ideal retirement.
Annual Credit Report
If you’re looking for a free credit report, Annual Credit Report is a great alternative and a great place to get a free credit report each year from each of the 3 major credit bureaus.
It’s important to check your credit report from each of the credit bureau’s annually to make sure that everything is accurate and up to date.
Budget Worksheet
A detailed, working budget is the cornerstone of the personal financial planning process.
At its core, it is the key tool that will enable you to get control of your finances so that you can reduce your debt and increase your savings.
A budget worksheet should consist of five columns: Expected income, actual income, budgeted expenses, actual expenses and surplus/deficit. There should be one worksheet for each month of the year.
At the end of the month, after actual income and expenses are added, the surplus or deficits should be carried over to the next month and budget adjustments should be made accordingly.
Sure, it may be quicker to use a computer spreadsheet or an online tool, but the fact that a paper worksheet can be just as effective means there’s no excuse for putting it off.
Financial Journal
Keeping a financial journal is a lot like keeping an eating diary when dieting. By knowing, on a daily basis, where your money is going, it is a lot easier to control it.
It’s micromanagement which means that you can more easily make small tweaks and adjustments throughout the month that will help you stay within your budget.
Your journal should include a daily record for expenses and a place to hold receipts.
HoneyDue
We chose Honeydue as the best option for couples because it is specifically geared toward helping you manage your money with a partner. You can link accounts and customize what information you share with your partner while also communicating about money issues directly through the app. Notifications even alert you to upcoming bills or when you or your partner exceeds pre-set spending limits in your budget categories.
Pros
- No monthly fee
- Choose how much account information to share with your partner
- Transactions are automatically categorized
- Customizable alerts for overspending or upcoming bills
Cons
- Only available for iOS or Android (no desktop app)
- Limited financial education
- Few reporting features that allow you to look at the big picture
Honeydue is designed to help couples manage their finances together and its features are focused on joint communication. Honeydue makes sharing information about money simpler by allowing you to respond to your partner’s transactions with a note, a thumbs-up, or other emojis. You can also aggregate your linked account information to see all of your individual and joint transactions in one place.
Honeydue makes tracking spending easy by automatically categorizing transactions as well as allowing you to add your own custom categories. And while there are fewer reporting options than with some other programs, customizable alerts help ensure nothing falls through the cracks.
Personal Capital
We chose Personal Capital as the best option for investors because it offers robust budgeting software and provides a retirement and savings planner with tools to keep tabs on investments. You can track your net worth, monitor your cash flow, and get an investment checkup so you can manage your money all in one place.Pros
- Free to use
- A comprehensive financial dashboard helps you track all aspects of your finances
- Retirement planning and investment features help you accomplish financial goals
Cons
- Some users report connectivity problems with bank accounts
- You may be upsold on other services, such as wealth management services
- Some app features are more limited
Personal Capital integrates budgeting software with other financial tools in one financial dashboard. You can track spending, monitor investment performance in real-time, set retirement goals, and track your net worth all in one place. You can also access special features such as an investment checkup, which compares your portfolio asset allocation to the target allocation for your age and circumstances.
The investment checkup feature is only available on the desktop version, though. However, the iOS and Android apps still offer plenty of features including interactive tools for tracking your investments and cash flow. Financial advisors are willing to talk with you about your plans, but you can expect to be upsold on Personal Capital’s wealth management services if you take advantage of this feature.
Conclusion:
We developed this guide for beginning investors to describe the powerful financial planning tools that are available to individuals. We developed this guide for beginning investors to describe the powerful financial planning tools that are available to individuals. We have shown how each tool can help you plan for your future.